Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

The Judge (2014)

Directed by David Dobkin

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton

Author

Interesting courtroom/family drama about a character with a moral obligation to defend someone who wants to be found guilty. I don’t think that’s ever been done before.

Downey’s snappy dialogue makes me wonder how much leeway he has with scripts. His combination of dialogue and diction and expression is unique, though in this one there’s a bit more incomprehensible mumbling than usual. Maybe just a bad sound mix. He’s turned into quite an actor, hasn’t he? He was great in this one and in his last non-Iron Man and non-Sherlock Holmes movie, Due Date. A couple more great dramatic, non-franchise performances could make him one of the great actors of our generation.

Bold performance by Duvall. D’Onofrio as Glen is good, though he seemed a bit off for an ex-athlete. Meester is amazing.

Dobkin, a newish director, does a nice job. Great final shot.

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